A Guide to Freelance Writing (By an Inexperienced Freelancer)
I started freelance writing in June of this year. Previously, I had dipped my foot into content writing, but had never managed to drum up business of my own. I relied solely on business that was outsourced to me by friends who were savvy enough to find the work. I spent a brief stint working for a content writing company, but I took on more work than I could handle and ended up turning in sub-par content, after which point I was unceremoniously discharged from this position.
My first byline ran July of this year. I wrote a personal essay about a unique experience that I had, that was unlikely to have been experienced by many writers at this time. I was assigned the piece by a publication after sending a cold pitch to their submissions page, and I was excited when I received an email back expressing interest. I already had the draft written, so I just sent it over and waited for it to pass through editing.
It’s been four months now, and I have five bylines published: three personal essays and two reported pieces. I currently have four pieces in editing that are set to run within the next two months: two personal essays, and two reported pieces. I am also in the process of writing an author interview that will run next month and will hopefully be writing some academic content for a corporate client.
Since then, I’ve had a few takeaways from this process. I learned how to do all of this with the help of a very generous mentor. She taught me about writing pitches and where to find publications that are looking for freelancers. I’ve been picking up journalism lingo as I go (hed, graf, led), and relying on Google searches when I don’t understand something. I’ve also learned a lot about reporting, which has become my main focus because I am tired of writing about myself.
If you’re looking to write, and aren’t really sure how to begin, I’m here to share some of the small amount of wisdom that I’ve gained throughout this process.
Rejection is an Inevitability
The first place I pitched my first personal essay was Vice. I did not get a response at all. This is very common. A lot of editors will not respond to pitches that they are not interested in at all, their inboxes are simply too full to respond to every single pitch. So I started looking for other homes for my piece.
It was a personal essay about addiction and recovery, so I started searching specifically for addiction related publications. The Fix does not accept pitches, but do have an option to sign up to blog. I found another publication, and I went to their submissions page and I found an email. I wrote a one paragraph pitch, as per their guidelines for pitches, and had an editor inquiry within a few days. However, it’s not common to get such a quick response.
In the months that followed I sent out probably about a hundred other pitches, most of which were ignored. Occasionally, an editor would email me back to say that they were going to pass on the piece, but for the most part, I did not get a response.
Successfully writing bylines requires a lot of time, patience, and rejection.
Your editors are your best friends
Getting in with an editor was a big key to my success. I’ve now written three pieces for the first publication I wrote for, and have a few more in the works with them. Once you have an editor who likes your stuff, you have a captive audience for future work.
While we’re talking about editors, you’re going to have a lot more luck pitching editors directly than just sending a cold inquiry to editor@whateverpublication.com. Find out what editors you want to work with, and then try to directly contact them.
Twitter is also your best friend. Most editors are on Twitter and this is where they will post their calls for submissions and pitches. Follow editors and publications on Twitter, I find most of my work this way.
Make sure you’re familiar with the publication
My early pitching was a little bit sloppy, I’m not going to lie. I had a personal essay written up that I was so excited about and I wanted to get it published somewhere. I pitched an editor directly, and she responded that she didn’t think it would be a good fit for her publication. I asked if I could send it over anyway.
When I really reviewed the publication, I realized that particular piece was absolutely not a good fit for this newsletter. So to avoid wasting everyone’s time, you need to do a good amount of research on the publication you want to write for to make sure you’re sending over something that’s a good fit.
Writing personal essays is drastically different from writing reported pieces which is also drastically different from writing interviews
My first piece that I published was a deeply personal essay about some of my own personal struggles. The week it ran, my inbox was full of DMs from people going through similar things and messages of hope and encouragement from other people. I really bared my soul for that piece, and the emotional payback was very rewarding.
When I landed my first reported piece, I was also tremendously excited to work on it. But the process was entirely different. I now had to find sources to interview, which involved doing some cold calling. I also had to record and transcribe the call, which meant I had to find a call recording app. I needed to be able to quote my sources accurately, so I absolutely needed to record. I ended up paying for a call recording app, which I’ve used for pretty much every piece since.
The response to reported pieces is also different from the response to personal essays. No one really cares who wrote a news story. People are far more likely to reach out to your sources than you, the person who wrote the article. I don’t even think people read the byline on the piece. So if you’re looking for a short term validation fix, you’re not going to get it reporting. On the other hand, you now have another writing credit that will absolutely get you more writing jobs.
It takes a very long time to build consistent income, if it ever even happens
I still don’t have consistent steady work, but I do have a pipeline that is growing every month. When you start freelancing, you’re going to have to have another source of income. When I started my freelance work, I was still getting pandemic unemployment and I’m also married to someone who is the primary breadwinner in my relationship.
You won’t get paid until your article runs. Some of my articles have been sitting in editing since September, and I am still waiting for them to run. When they do run though, I’ll get a nice payoff. Another frustrating thing is that work can vary so wildly from month to month. I have several pitches accepted in September and October, but it’s already mid-November and I only have one piece that’s assigned.
You might also have to write for free sometimes. I don’t normally take on work that isn’t paid because I am also a full-time student, but you can get more writing credits from publications that don’t pay. This turns into clips that you can send with pitches, which can lead to real, paid work. You can also blog when you don’t have assignments, because you can use these blog posts as clips when your editors want writing samples. Honestly, you should blog anyway, because you’re going to want to get into the habit of writing every day.
This is also a particularly tricky time to be a professional writer. With Covid-19, there have been a ton of media layoffs, and therefore a decrease in publications that are looking to pay writers.
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Writing has been hugely beneficial to me. It has provided me with income (albeit not steady), an outlet to get out whatever is on my mind, and the flexibility of being able to do it on my own time — which is something that is incredibly helpful when you have small children. I also feel more creative and fulfilled. People are genuinely interested in what I have to say, and I’ve made some connections with some interesting people with whom I would probably have never crossed paths otherwise.
On the other hand it’s hard work, and there aren’t a lot of resources out there to teach you how to build the level of hustle it takes to write professionally. Hopefully this guide will help you get off to something of a start.
